#TDG99 Draft Recap

After 99 rounds and 1,485 players chosen, and over a month of slow drafting, the TDG99 Draft and Hold League expert draft has finally finished. If you want to learn more about the league you can do so here, and you can see the full draft results here. Let’s see what some of the league participants thought of their drafts:

Biggest Reach

Mark Barry says: “It’s gotta be Billy Hamilton [taken 32nd overall by Mark]. I had a strategy (before getting beating down by the sheer volume of picks) to target steals early, since they’ve become increasingly difficult to project. I probably reached by a couple of rounds.”

Lance Brozdowski (Razzball/BigThree Sports) says: “Going to stand by my theory from our first podcast regarding the early rounds of this draft – the value of steals is diminished in the 6×6 format. This makes Jonathan Villar at 24 overall insane to me. He went in front of Joey Votto, Charlie Blackmon, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gregory Polanco. I think I would have trouble fitting him into my top 50 for a dynasty league. I could understand it a bit more as a win now move, but that early in the draft, you’re really putting your team in a hole.”

Jack Cecil says: “In the 16th I took the presently injured prospect Kyle Lewis. I got to see a few of his college and Cape Cod games, where he looked massive compared to his competition with a lot of room for continued growth, and more importantly he stood out with considerably more power than any other player, and the ability to spray homers to all fields.”

Tyler Baber says: “Tommy Joseph was taken in the 8th round, as the 13th first baseman off the board. Ahead of Chris Davis, Cody Bellinger, Greg Bird, and many other first basemen. Joseph is an interesting player, but he doesn’t have the upside of the other young 1b’s and I’m sure the guy who took Joseph could have gotten him, or a comparable player, four or five rounds later.”

Best Value

Jack says: “In the 24th I was able to take Jorge Mateo. I’m hoping he keeps me in contention on steals alone once he arrives in the MLB.”

Lance says: “Yadier Alvarez at 321 overall. I’m a really big fan of this kid’s youth and velocity. He has one of the smoothest deliveries in recent memory, generating velocity with ease in a way that seems unfair. I get he is really young, risky, and probably a few years off, but I don’t think any other pitcher has his upside outside of Jason Groome at 492 overall. Big fan of this pick, wish I was reading the draft room as a bit more aggressive on him so I could’ve snagged him closer to 300 overall.”

Mark says: “I mean, I don’t necessarily think he’s going to come back and do much, but Bret Sayre taking David Wright in the 52nd round is pretty great value, especially considering some of the dregs being taken around that time. The best value might have been in round 8 when Jack snagged Jose Quintana. I know that Tyler and I both were hoping to take him with our next pick.”

Tyler says: “Marco Estrada was taken by Billy at the start of the 31st round, 451st overall. In a league of this depth, it’s not a sexy pick but Estrada’s performance in Toronto has been consistently underrated and he should provide a few years of value to Billy and I’d rather have that quality than the risk of many of the other veteran starters taken in the later rounds.”

Player Taken After Round 50 Whose Value Will Rise The Most

Greg says “Jesus Sanchez (850 overall)”

Billy says “Billy Burns at 922 for still high potential SB influence. Daz Cameron at 1051 for huge rise.”

Mark says “It’s Tebow (1471). Just kidding. I liked Lance getting Jesus Aguilar in the 68th round. He never quite got the chance to produce with the Indians, but it looks like he’ll get the opportunity to play this year in Milwaukee. I think he’ll hit.”

Lance says “I’m going to back my way into a homer pick and go with Paul DeJong of the Cardinals. I’ve kept an eye on him recently and loved what I saw in 2017 Spring Training. Coupled with the fact that I’m not 100% a believer in Aledmys Diaz as the next foundational Cardinal, DeJong has a bit of time to play his way into a role before Delvin Perez can emerge and put his PED history behind him.

22 home runs at AA last season, DeJong is 23 years old, with a bit of swing and miss still in his game. He seems to be a poor man’s Trevor Story, minus Coors – overlooked, but talented, and with a bat that can push its way to the major league level sooner than many may perceive.”

Jack says “There aren’t many prospects who can potentially hit 35+ homers, so to get Jhailyn Ortiz who at the time of signing was considered the best power prospect in his class, with the 754th pick made me pretty happy.”

Tyler says “Mark taking Scott Kingery was a huge value. Kingery is an unsexy second baseman, but at the 989th pick a player who should reach the majors this year and contribute across multiple categories. I don’t trust spring training stats, but Kingery has quality speed and enough bat and power to jump up the second base AND prospect rankings. In deep leagues, these are the kinds of players who can make the difference at the back of your roster.”